Practically Perfect
by ChibiDawn23
Summary: MARY POPPINS RETURNS. Turns out Kate and Michael Banks were only *half* right when they kept referring to their soon-to-be new arrival as 'he' for nine months...Fluffy oneshot.


**Disclaimer:**** I don't own the characters; they belong to Disney.**

**Author's Note:** **Holy COW was childbirth interesting in the early 1900s. We're just gonna ignore the whole Twilight Sleep thing...geez.**

* * *

3:30 AM.

Kate Banks opened her eyes, staring at the clock on the wall. Something had woken her, a feeling. She wasn't sure what. A hand drifted to her belly, rubbing it absentmindedly. Next to her in bed, Michael slept soundly He didn't even shift when she sat up.

_Ah_. She smiled in the dark, now realizing what it was that had woken her up. Kate gently shook her husband. "Michael," she whispered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering; they were the only ones in the house.

Michael mumbled something and rolled onto his stomach. Kate let her breath out in a huff, gripping Michael's arm and giving it a hard shove. "Michael!" she said, louder now. _For heaven's sake…_

Michael opened one eye. "What is it?" he muttered, looking up at her.

Kate was beaming. "Nothing, dear. I just thought I should let you know that our child is going to make an appearance soon, so we may want to get to the hospital."

"How soon?" He was on the verge of falling asleep again.

Kate rolled her eyes. "How does 'any moment now' sound?" she asked him. Then, the first contraction hit and she cried out in surprise.

Michael's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast the room spun. "_Oh!_" he gaped, throwing the blankets back. He moved to the closet, then to the light switch, then back to the bed. "I-what-"

Kate carefully got out of bed. "I can see you're going to be of no help during all this." She toed her slippers on, waddled past him to the closet, found a cardigan. "Michael, get your coat and the keys and I will meet you in the car."

"I…car. Got it."

"Keys _first_!" Kate reminded him as he took off down the stairs. "We'll worry about shoes and a coat later," she said out loud to no one as she carefully made her way down the stairs, holding tight to the banister. Her heart fluttered even through the pain she was feeling. _It's almost time, little one_.

* * *

The ride to the hospital seemed interminable. Kate breathed through her contractions as Michael drove at what he thought was breakneck speed to the hospital. He parked as close to the doors as he could and left it running as he jumped out and ran to the passenger side to help Kate out. "We need some help!" Michael called out as he guided Kate into the building. "My wife is about to have a baby!"

"Th-they can just put me on the floor," Kate gritted her teeth. "It won't be long now." _At least wait until Mummy gets to a bed, please, darling, _she thought at her belly, her arms wrapped around it as best as she could.

"'Lo, Mrs. Banks," a voice interrupted her thoughts. Kate looked up and smiled thinly at her doctor. "This is it, eh?"

Kate nodded. "I'm afraid he just couldn't wait another day or two," she said.

The doctor smiled. "Sure it's a 'he,' then?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Just a feeling," she said. "I mean, I've been saying 'he' for nine months, I would hate to change my mind n-_ow_!" Kate nearly doubled over as another contraction hit.

"Let's get you into a bed," the doctor suggested. He looked over at Michael. "Would you like to be present, sir?" he asked him.

"I-" Michael looked both thrilled and terrified, if that was possible.

"Michael, darling, why don't you go ring your sister?" Kate suggested as the doctor helped her into a wheelchair.

Michael ran a hand over his face. "Right! Jane, she'll want-yes, of course," he stammered.

Kate pressed a hand to her forehead as the doctor wheeled her away. "Please send someone to check on him in a moment," she told the doctor.

The doctor laughed. "Yes'm."

"One more!"

Kate closed her eyes and gritted her teeth for one final push. The doctor had just informed her the head and shoulders were out, and one more ought to do it. Kate took a deep breath and pushed with everything she had.

The sound of a wail split the room and she leaned back, exhausted.

The doctor was grinning. "Did you have any girls' names picked out, Mrs. Banks?" he asked her.

Kate leaned forward, her mouth forming a small _o_. "I'm sorry, _what?"_

The doctor nodded to the nurse, who was holding the baby. "It's a girl," the nurse told her, leaning over Kate with a smile.

Tears pricked Kate's eyes. "_Oh…_"

"Oh."

The second utterance had come from the doctor down near Kate's feet. "Mrs. Banks, if you wouldn't mind…I need you to push again."

Kate managed to tear her eyes away from her baby girl and look down at the doctor. "Beg your pardon?" she asked.

The doctor looked surprised. "There's another one in there," he told her. "Give me another push!"

_Twins?_ Kate's jaw dropped even as she tried to relax enough to push again. "C-Can you go f-find my h-husband, please?" she ground out at the nurse.

* * *

"I don't understand," Jane Banks told her sister-in-law later. She was perched on the windowsill as Michael and Kate huddled in the bed together, a pink-clad baby in Kate's and a blue one in Michael's arms. "We don't have any twins in our family, do you?"

Kate shook her head. "Not that I know of. Unless it's a long way back," she added as an afterthought. She poked the little girl's nose. "Here I was only half right, calling you a 'he' this whole time," she whispered to it.

Michael was enamored with their son. Jane wasn't sure she'd seen him take his eyes off him for even a moment. "Michael. You're going to have a lifetime with him, you know," Jane teased her brother.

"I know," Michael said, his eyes never leaving his son. "But he'll only be like this for some of that."

Kate kissed his cheek. "So what are we going to do, Daddy?" she asked Michael. She ran a finger tenderly down their son's face. "He's got a name, but his sister doesn't," she said. "We never thought of any girl's names because we were so sure we were having a boy."

"Well, what name did you pick for _him,_ then?" Jane asked.

Michael looked up finally, met his sister's eyes with a smile. "Jonathon George Banks," he told her.

Jane giggled. "It's perfect," she said. "That would tickle Father to pieces I think," she said.

"And now onto this one," Kate said, looking at the pink bundle in her arms. "What shall we call you, then?" she wondered aloud.

"Whatever we choose…her middle name is Katherine," Michael decided, looking at his wife. Kate leaned on his shoulder.

"Annabel," Jane offered. She nodded to Kate. "That was your mother's name, wasn't it?"

Kate nodded. "How does that sound, little one? Annabel Katherine Banks?"

The baby yawned in her sleep, causing all three adults to burst out laughing. "She'll grow into it," Michael laughed. He kissed the top of his wife's head. "They're perfect."

Kate nodded. "In every way."


End file.
